BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2474
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Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2474 (Chesbro) - As Amended: April 25, 2012
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:6-2
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill recasts provisions for setting the fire prevention fee
on structures located in State Responsibility Areas (SRA), which
is to be collected starting in the summer of 2012.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, by July 1,
2013, to amend emergency regulations establishing the fire
prevention fee in order to:
a) Exempt from the fee an owner of a structure on a parcel
in the SRA who pays $150 or more to a local agency
providing fire protection services in the SRA.
b) Require an owner of such a structure who pays less than
$150 to a local agency for fire protection services in the
SRA be given credit against the fire prevent fee in an
amount equal to the amount paid to the local agency.
c) Adjust the fire prevention fee to account for the fire
history and severity in the SRA to ensure it accurately
reflects the fire prevention benefits provided.
2)Changes, from July 1, 2013, to July 1, 2012, the date on which
the board must first annually adjust the fire prevention fee
for inflation.
3)Requires the board to report annually to the Legislature,
beginning on January 1, 2013, on the cost of responding to all
fire disasters and emergencies in the SRA.
FISCAL EFFECT
AB 2474
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1)Reduced fire prevention fees of an unknown amount, potentially
in the tens of millions of dollars, in the current year (SRA
Fire Prevention Fund). (CAL FIRE estimates nearly 95% of
structures subject to the fire prevention fee are located in
an area that provides local fire protection services. It is
therefore reasonable to expect this bill to result in partial
fee reduction, at least, for nearly all structures subject to
the fire prevention fee, which would substantially diminish
the $84 million in fee revenue CAL FIRE anticipates in
2012-13.)
2)General Fund pressure of an unknown amount, potentially in the
tens of millions of dollars, in 2012-13 to fund fire
prevention activities, as well as fire prevention fee
collection activities, at the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection (CAL FIRE) and the California Conservation Corps
(CCC) that otherwise would be funded by the fire prevention
fee.
1)Costs in the tens of thousands of dollars to Cal Fire to
prepare a report to the Legislature on the cost of responding
to all fire disasters and emergencies in the SRA.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author contends this bill makes the fire
prevention fee more proportionate to the benefit received by
fee payers and, therefore, more equitable.
2)Background . Statute makes the state responsible for wildland
fire protection in State Responsibility Areas, which are
generally defined to include most nonfederal timberlands,
rangelands and watersheds thinly populated and not within the
boundaries of a city. Over 31 million acres of state land,
much of it privately owned, are located in the SRA. In the
past, SRA were largely unpopulated. In recent years, however,
local governments have allowed increased housing development
in the SRA. The result is a greater number of houses in the
SRA but at a level of density that nonetheless maintains the
state's obligation to provide wildland fire protection.
As housing development in the SRA increased, so did CAL FIRE
fire protection costs. In 1996-97, the department spent $475
million on fire protection; in more recent years, CAL FIRE's
annual fire protection costs neared or surpassed $1 billion.
AB 2474
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The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) attributes much of the
increase in CAL FIRE's fire protection costs to increased
housing development in the SRA. The LAO notes that as housing
development in SRA has increased, the department has spent
greater resources responding to events other than wildfires
for which the state is not legally responsible, such as
structural fires and medical emergencies. Because the LAO
concludes that much of CAL FIRE's nonwildfire activities
provide private benefits, it has long recommended a fee on
owners of private land in the SRA to pay for a portion of CAL
FIRE's fire protection costs.
The Legislature has made several attempts at imposing such a
fee. In 2003, the budget bill included a $35 fee on the owner
of each parcel of land within the SRA. Many expressed concern
that the per-parcel fee failed to reflect the greater fire
protection benefit received by those who own larger parcels of
land. The following year, before the fee was collected, the
Legislature passed another bill repealing the fee. Other fire
fee bills were introduced in subsequent years.
In 2011 the Legislature passed ABx1 29 (Blumenfield),
requiring the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt
emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee. The
fee, not to exceed $150 on each structure, was to raise $50
million to fund CAL FIRE fire prevention activities. In
January of this year, the board issued its regulation,
establishing a fee of $150 per habitable structure on a parcel
located with the SRA, with a $35 exemption for each habitable
structure that is also within the boundaries of a local agency
that provides fire protection services.
3)Related Legislation. AB 1506 (Jefferies) would repeal the
fire prevention fee altogether. The bill is pending before
this committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081